About us

The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global reach.

We promote knowledge of the German language abroad and foster international cultural cooperation. We convey a comprehensive picture of Germany by providing information on Germany's cultural, social and political life.

Through our network of Goethe-Institutes, Goethe Centres, cultural societies and reading rooms, alongside our examination and language learning centres, we perform the principal tasks of cultural and educational policy abroad. We work in partnership with public and private cultural bodies, the German federal states and municipalities, and the corporate sector.

We draw on the rich variety of our many-faceted open society and Germany's lively culture. We combine the experiences and conceptions of our partners in Germany and abroad with our professional skills and engage in a dialogue rooted in partnership. In doing so, we function as service providers and partners for everyone taking an active interest in Germany and the German language and culture, and act independently with no political affiliations.

We face the cultural policy challenges of globalisation and develop innovative concepts for a world made more human through mutual understanding, where cultural diversity is seen as an asset.

The Goethe-Institut Pune is mainly involved in teaching of german and training of German language teachers. It is best known for its intensive language course programme with 25 units of instruction per week, which is unique to South Asia. This programme gives course participants from all over India, particularly university students and young scientists, engineers and IT professionals, the opportunity to fulfil specific job requirements in a short period of time, or to prepare themselves for a stay in Germany.

Besides running language classes the Pune institute acts as a regional training and professional development centre for teachers of German who teach at the Goethe Institutes and in the colleges and universities of Baroda, Dharwad and Pune.

Film takes pride of place in the cultural programme for the simple reason that the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) are both based in Pune.